


100 Years

by neaf



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-10
Updated: 2013-04-10
Packaged: 2017-12-08 01:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/755582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neaf/pseuds/neaf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darren and Chris realise they mean more to each other than they know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	100 Years

**Author's Note:**

> Set during the filming of Prom Queen. When I say Eric, I'm referring to director Eric Stoltz. This story was written based on speculation only, before the episode aired.

Spotlights burst and flashed past the cameras, glaring off the shimmering gloss of pastel balloons and glittering cardboard stars. Coloured streamers stretched down the long corridor in wisps like the rolling reminder of a paper parade, bringing back memories of pink suits and pea-green ties, good tunes and bolder days when nothing he did really mattered all that much.  
  
Darren grinned and pressed on through the doors to the gym, scanning the surging rainbow of the crowd and trying not to liken them to a bowl of skittles in his mind, because… shit. Now he wanted skittles.  
  
It took him a moment to spot Chris over by the refreshments table, leaning back and watching the cameras swoop over the crowd for filler shots. He was wearing dark green, and those boots again, and the gold studs on his jacket glinted under the beam lights above. Darren felt his face flush, felt the smile that split from ear to ear, but he probably couldn’t have stopped it if he’d tried. He adjusted his tie nervously, and checked he hadn’t lost his boutonnière before he wandered over to Chris.  
  
“There you are!” Chris said with a smile once he realised Darren had stopped at his side. “How crazy is this?”  
  
Darren nodded out to the sea of shimmering bodies, sliding around to no particular beat while the cameras darted between them. “It’s totally insane, it’s like – it’s crazy rainbow prom land.”  
  
“Right?” Chris laughed, but trailed off as he looked at Darren properly. His eyes swept up and down, carefully but quickly, and his smile caught in just one little curve at the corner his mouth. “You look very nice.”  
  
Darren tilted his head a little and straightened the front of his jacket with a cocky smile. “Thank you, thank you,” he said in a mock British accent.  
  
“I would go so far as to say ‘dapper’,” Chris intoned seriously.  
  
Darren chuckled before he let his expression fall into a fond smile, and his eyes widened just a little, catching the light. “You look…” he breathed out slowly. “ _Amazing._ ”  
  
Chris narrowed his eyes at him for a moment, surprised at the strange waver in his voice.  
  
Darren laughed dismissively, rubbing at his forehead. “I mean, I have no idea how you do it, man, some of the clothes they put you in I keep thinking, wow, nobody could pull that off, but you do. Every time. You always manage to rock the look.”  
  
Chris watched him, utterly amused. _Nice recovery,_ he thought.  
  
“I get the feeling we’re gonna stand out, though, I mean you looking … like that … in a,” he made an aborted waving gesture as his expression shifted into one of awkward confusion, “sea of… skittles…”  
  
 _Oh, Darren. You were doing so well._ Chris tried not to laugh. “You too, huh?” he asked.  
  
Darren narrowed his eyes, and the blush in his cheeks just made the expression that much more adorable.  
  
“All I can think about is skittles,” Chris nodded sympathetically. “I’m sure I have a packet somewhere but there are no pockets in this kilt. Proud as I am of my ninja skills, I’m fairly sure skittle-smuggling is beyond my expertise.”  
  
It took a split second for Darren to register what Chris was saying, but when he did the laughter bubbled up and wouldn’t stop. It wasn’t that funny, really. He was fairly certain most kilts didn’t have pockets, but it was the mental image of the two of them smuggling Skittles onto set in Chris’s kilt that set him off completely and he just couldn’t stop.  
  
“Are you okay?” Chris asked through unsure giggles, watching Darren lose it all over again.  
  
At this point Darren had doubled-over, mouth open and jaw tight as the tears rolled down his face. He was laughing so hard now there was no noise coming out, his eyes scrunched up and his face buried in Chris’s shirt under the gold-studded prom jacket.  
  
Chris snickered, and stretched an arm across Darren’s shoulders, rocking slightly with the force of Darren’s shaking body while his other cradled Darren’s head. “O-ho-kay, come on,” he said gently, grinning. “Calm down. Breathe. Oxygen, Darren. It’s kind of important.”  
  
Darren made a snuffling, wet noise against his stomach, and a tiny wheeze of laughter kicked up the shaking again.  
  
“If there’s snot on my shirt,” Chris said, trying to control his own giggling. “I am going to be very unimpressed.”  
  
“Stop-” Darren managed to choke out through tears. “Ohhh, then stop making me laugh.”  
  
“No promises,” Chris grinned, wrapping a curl around his finger absently.  
  
“Guys, you’re up!”  
  
Chris nodded at Eric, who had passed them and waved authoritatively, not even trying to hide his knowing grin.  
  
He shuffled into position on the dance floor, helping Darren along the way until they found their mark. Darren had managed to wipe the tears away, breathing slowly to regain his composure as the cameras re-set and instruction given to dance while Lea and Cory shot their dialogue.  
  
Chris swallowed hard. Dancing to a music track was one thing, but dancing to the invisible beat of nothing at all was nearly impossible to do gracefully. Still, it was part of the job, and they weren’t micced – so at the very least if he was caught humming a tune to dance to he, wouldn’t get told off.  
  
As if on cue, Darren began to sing softly as they moved back and forth in each other’s space, and Chris couldn’t quite make out the all-too-familiar tune until he reached the chorus.  
  
Chris grinned, shaking his shoulders in time. “Are you singing _Only Girl in the World_?” he asked, amused.  
  
Darren half-shrugged as they danced around, shoes scuffing and squeaking on the polished gym floor. “Maybe,” he said with a wry grin, and kept on singing.  
  
“That’s ridiculous, it’s my… like, my favourite song at the moment,” Chris whispered back, a little stunned.  
  
“Fancy that,” Darren mouthed back in mock surprise.  
  
Chris closed his eyes, laughing breathily to himself as he kept dancing. Before he knew it, the cameras swept by, and suddenly Darren’s hand was in his. He stepped lightly as Darren spun him around, grinning and giddy from the motion. Chris waited till the cameras moved away before he poked Darren viciously in the ribs. “You did not just spin me!”  
  
Darren grinned, and pressed his hand to his chest where Chris had jabbed him. “It’s cute, come on,” Darren said softly through a broad grin.  
  
Chris rolled his eyes, but couldn’t tear the smile off his face.  
  
“Slow track!”  
  
They looked around to where the direction had been called, and amongst the rainbow suits and rustling fabric as the crowd changed their poses, Darren slid in close and found Chris’s waist with broad, strong hands.  
  
Chris’s breath hitched for a moment before he remembered himself, and moved into position. The cue was given again, and they began to move to the slow-burning harmony only Chris could hear, playing like a crackling 45 somewhere in the back of his mind.  
  
Darren watched him as they swayed gently, studying his expression for a moment before he smiled very softly. “Moulin Rouge or Snow Patrol?” he asked.  
  
Chris stared, wide-eyed. “Okay, how do you do that?”  
  
Darren’s head tilted to the side, and Chris felt the hands on his hips shift a little as he shrugged. “Ah, see, that’s _my_ ninja skill. Trade secrets.”  
  
“Mm-hmm,” Chris hummed fondly.  
  
“And I have seen your iPod,” Darren added.  
  
Chris rolled his eyes again, still smiling. “You know, it’s going to be nice to have my thoughts to myself for the next few months.”  
  
“Shut up, you’ll miss me,” Darren shot back with a wide smile.  
  
Chris laughed, and found his gaze falling down as his cheeks flushed. The silence pressed in for a moment, and the chilly, creeping reality found him.  
  
“I will,” he admitted softly.  
  
Darren found himself watching Chris again. The smile on his lips was still there, if slightly sad now, and a little lost.  
  
“Ah, but then I get to follow you around the country and sing you love songs,” he said with as much bravado as he could manage. “It’ll only be a few months, and then you can get sick of me all over again.”  
  
He watched Chris laugh, and felt the warmth surge in his chest again. _Much better_ , he thought.  
  
“I’m looking forward to it,” Chris chuckled.  
  
“Promise me you’ll never forget me,” Darren quoted in a serious tone, his eyes flickering in the yellow glow of the spotlights. “Because if I thought you would I’d never leave.”  
  
“Winnie-the-Pooh?” Chris asked, eyes narrowing.  
  
Darren nodded, a shy smile creeping across his lips. “The colours, the … night. It just reminded me. Feels like a party in the Hundred Acre Wood.”  
  
“Yes well, you would go straight to Disney,” Chris mocked him gently.  
  
With a laugh, Darren swayed into him, their chests pressing together, arms tangled around each other a little more than Chris had planned.  
  
“I suppose I’m Christopher Robin in this scenario,” Chris said dryly.  
  
“Sounds about right,” Darren agreed.  
  
“What was his line?” Chris asked, a little short of breath. “I shall live to be one hundred years old.”  
  
Darren smiled into Chris’s shoulder. “That’s right.”  
  
Chris nodded, feeling his heart race in his chest as the pre-recorded music began to play and their castmates started to sing along.  
  
“If you live to be one hundred,” Darren said very gently, so quiet even Chris could barely hear. “I hope to live to be one hundred minus one day.”  
  
Chris felt his throat tighten, and he closed his eyes.  
  
 _“So I shall never have to live without you.”_


End file.
